Friday, January 29, 2010

29Jan10
Mission Accomplished!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

I can't shout since I'm at work so you're gettin' it here -- I just received word from a foundation donor that they are donating $5000 to our fundraising for the Sope Creek trail rehab project. That puts us where we need to be in order to get the matching grant from the National Park Foundation which will be combined with the Coca-Cola Foundation grant that we, SORBA Atlanta, partnered with the NPS on.

What this means is that the final phase of the project will happen this year and that we may actually complete the work sooner than expected.

This is such great news because I ran a fundraising campaign all last year and we only received about $1000. The guy responsible for this donation stopped in the middle of his ride one day last Fall while we were working on some muddy spots on the trail to talk with us. I told him how he could help and he's pulled through. WOW....such a relief! AND it helps our position as mountain bikers in a National Park Service unit.

Ahhhh....there....I said it. I'm not going to be able to sit still today - I'm way too excited about this!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

27JAN10
Whew...gettin' busy

Since I last checked in here a lot has happened. Here's the brief:
1. I'm now the president of the Atlanta chapter of SORBA (www.aorbaatlanta.org)
2. In November, Team Atlanta Outfitters had our first training camp in Pisgah National Forest and I got to crush a few souls on Laurel Mountain!
3. I have my 2010 race calendar layed out already. Yes, really. And there's an Olympic distance triathlon on there. GULP
4. I am fully engaged in trail projects at four different locations in the metro Atlanta area including two completely new systems. HOOAH!
5. I turned down a job in Afghanistan.
6. Sarah and I have been looking at engagement rings. Yes, really. Holy jeez...those bloody things are expensive. Maybe I should tell her that 15 people died in the process of that diamond being mined and exported to America. (have you seen the movie Blood Diamond?)
7. Sarah and I drove to Kansas and I saw buffalo, the Gateway Arch, and vast plains that make you want to just stop and look and breathe fresh air and wonder why you live in a city of 4.5 million people.
8. Did a mountain bike ride in the snow....in Georgia. YES, REALLY.
9. I bought a new truck -- a 2007 Honda Ridgeline RTX.

Had enough? Somewhere in all that I'm still in the choir at Mt Paran Church of God and getting regular workouts in. Whew....I'm tired just writing all that!

I realized at Christmas that my oldest niece will get her drivers permit this year. WHAT? Are you kidding me? No freaking way! Why...just yesterday she had climbed inside the dryer to hide from us and laughed at anything I did. Whoa...where does the time go?

So this year is already packed with excitement for me. I have posted the 2010 event calendar for Atlanta Outfitters and hope to actually make some money off that little venture. We, SORBA Atlanta, are working on completely revamping the chapter and have about 50 miles of new trails opening up that are all within 20 minutes of downtown Atlanta. My hope of getting the largest city in the South on the map of great urban trail riding is getting closer.

As for racing, my season starts on 13FEB with the Tundra Time Trial, a road event on the Silver Comet Trail. Team Atlanta Outfitters will make it's official race debut and I'm stoked about that! After that, it's the Chain Buster 12 hour series, Tugaloo Olympic Tri, and a couple others tossed in for good measure.

Oh, we're doing a team for the May edition of the Tour De Cure in Atlanta. Team Atlanta Outfitters will be riding in honor of two riders who suffer from diabetes. You can join our team and ride with us or make a donation at http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC218008030?team_id=440288&pg=team&fr_id=6865.

Enough writing. Now for some pictures...
1. The Gateway Arch. This photo was selected for the Schmap St. Louis Guide at http://www.schmap.com/stlouis/tours_tour1/#p=172743&i=172743_225.jpg
2. Racing at the Rivers Edge Marathon in Charlotte
3. Sarah and I after the choir Christmas special